


the writing on your skin

by reddies_spaghetti



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coffee Shops, First Meetings, M/M, Modern Era, Writing on Skin, side stanlon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 17:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16180094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddies_spaghetti/pseuds/reddies_spaghetti
Summary: Prompt:The au where whatever you write on yourself shows up on your soulmates body where you wrote it with Eddie and Richie. It would be super cute ❤️





	the writing on your skin

With a soft smile on his lips, Eddie glanced down at his wrist as he felt the familiar tickling motion against his skin. Just as he suspected, he watched as a doodle of a flower appeared on the skin, followed by a sentence beneath, written in perfect cursive writing.

_Have a flower to brighten up your day - R_

He tugged down his sleeve as he heard his mother enter the kitchen, her loud footsteps bringing him out of his daze. She leaned down and pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek, her breath making his nose wrinkle up in disgust. “Shouldn’t you be heading to work Eddie-bear?”

With a whip of his head, Eddie looked at the clock, biting back a curse as he scrambled to his feet, pulling his shoes on at the same time. Even though he knew that Mike wouldn’t be phased if he was a few minutes late to his shift, Eddie fed on the moments that he wasn’t trapped in the house with his overbearing mother. “I’ll see you later ma!!” He called out as he pulled his jacket on, stumbling out of the door.

Once he was far enough away from his home, and his mother’s gaze, Eddie lifted his sleeve up again to see the small additions to the flower on his wrist. It was no longer just a outline, the petals were filled with colour and the stem was now secured in a beige coloured plant pot. He pulled his marker out of his pocket and rolled his sleeve up further, finally being able to write out his response.

_It’s so pretty, thank you. <3 - E_

It was a universal thing. The writing. Eddie wasn’t sure how it worked, and he wasn’t planning on finding out. All he knew was that the person he was talking to was his soulmate. When you are born, you have the ability to communicate with your soulmate, via writing on your skin, whatever you write on your own skin appears on your soulmates.

Of course, there are rules, as the universe in no way, made it easy for the pairing to meet up, or even discover each other’s names. The rules were as follows:

 **1.** Names didn’t appear on the skin. If you tried, the words would either blur, or vanish before it was even complete. Eddie had tried this so many times and the furthest he got was his first name initial.

 **2.** Direct locations wouldn’t show up either. Eddie tried once to write his hometown on his arm for R to see, but unfortunately, that wouldn’t work either.

 **3.** No phone numbers.

The only way Eddie could communicate with his soulmate was through their skin. So far, he had a few details about his soulmate. First, his name began with an R and he was male. Second, he was a fantastic artist and third, he lived somewhere in America. The fact that he could be anywhere in any of the 50 States, made Eddie’s heart sink, as he knew deep down that he would probably never leave Maine and in the process, never meet his soulmate.

Eddie’s thoughts were broken when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and rolled his eyes at the text message on his phone, from his mother, reminding him to collect his placebo medication from the pharmacy on his way home. With a sigh he put his phone away and uncapped the marker with his teeth once more, scribbling the words, ‘medication from pharmacy’ on the arm that R wasn’t currently doodling on, right next to the note that read ‘work - coffee shop’.

Almost immediately, words appeared under his note, making another smile appear on his lips.

_Why do you still get them, if you don’t need them? - R_

Eddie thought about the question a lot himself. He knew he didn’t need the pills his mother made him take. He knew that they were nothing but sugar and water, harmless really, under the guise of ‘allergens’. Allergens for allergies that Eddie didn’t even have.

_It makes my mother happy, I guess. - E_

Even as he scribbled the words, he felt a sick feeling settle in his stomach and he tugged his sleeve back down so he wouldn’t see what R had written back, regardless of the tingling feeling on his skin. As he approached the coffee shop where he worked, Eddie spotted Mike standing outside, a relieved smile on his face.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Eddie muttered when he was close enough for Mike to hear him. “I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”  
 **  
“** You’re lucky you’re my friend Kaspbrak and that my parents own this place. Don’t worry though, Stan’s late too.” Mike winked and followed him into the shop. Eddie grabbed his apron and tied it around his waist before jumping behind the till to take the next order. A few minutes later, the main door opened again and Stan rushed in, hair windswept from his running.

“Sorry Mike,” he muttered, pulling his own apron on. He leaned up, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of Mike’s lips and it caused a lump to form in Eddie’s throat. For as long as Eddie had known the two of them, they had been joined at the hip. There was no Mike without Stan.

Eddie was happy for his friends, of course he was, there was just a small voice in the back of his head that sounded like his mother, screaming that he was never going to find his soulmate in person. His thoughts were broken by Stan sliding up next to him, taking his place at the coffee machine. “You’re never late,” Eddie commented, his lips turning up into a smile.

“I had an unexpected visitor,” Stan explained, making a start on the orders that were coming through. It was rush hour on a Saturday afternoon, the busiest time of the week. “A friend who moved away the same summer you moved here.”

Oh yes, the other thing about Eddie? He grew up in New York City. Then, the summer before he was to start High School, Sonia up and moved them to Derry. She told Eddie it was because she couldn’t live in the same house his father had lived in, and they needed a fresh start, even though his father had passed away six years before. Eddie knew better than to argue with his mother though, and therefore four weeks later he was beginning Freshman year as a new student who had no idea who anyone was.

He had met Mike and Stan that very first day, and now, almost five years later and on the brink of graduation, they were still his best friends. Even if he felt like the third wheel sometimes. He raised his eyebrow at Stan, “Oh? Who’s that?”

“His name is Richie, we were best friends in middle school but his dad got this really important dentist job in California the summer before High School so they had to move out there.” Stan explained. “I never thought I’d miss the fucker until he wasn’t there to piss me off. We keep in contact but he appeared out of nowhere this morning telling me he was here for graduation. Apparently, he graduated last week and he wanted to come see me before he heads down to New York. He’s going to Art School there.”

“Is he here?” Eddie asked, wanting to meet this mysterious Richie. He tried to ignore how his name began with the same letter as his soulmate, because there are plenty of people Eddie had met that had a name beginning with R. Even if the mention of him attending art school made his heart flutter.

“Not right now,” Stan answered. “I left him to unpack, but he did say he’d come by later when it was less busy.”

That marked the end of the conversation, for the rest of the rush hour both Eddie and Stan worked through the orders until there was only a few people dribbling in. That was when the door opened again and a loud, abrasive voice echoed through the whole shop.

“Michael Hanlon where are you my man!” The voice called and Eddie peaked out from behind the coffee machine, watching as Mike approached the customer and pulled him into a tight hug. “Treating my Stanley well I hope?”

“Of course. My Richie you haven’t changed at all!” Mike laughed and Eddie realised that this was Stan’s mysterious Middle School friend. He kept his eyes trained on the two of them and as Mike stepped aside fully revealing the stranger to him, his breath caught in his throat because this boy was gorgeous.

“Hey, in my defence I got taller!” Richie argued, wrapping a lanky arm around Mike’s shoulders. Eddie felt like he was some teenage girl swooning over her celebrity crush, but he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Richie not even for a second. Just then, Richie looked up and their eyes locked, jolting Eddie out of his trance and he hid behind the coffee machine.

“Stan’s on a break at the moment, but let me introduce you to someone,” Eddie heard Mike say and willed his cheeks not to turn a bright red as Mike brought Richie behind the counter so they were a few feet apart. “Richie, this is Eddie Kaspbrak, Eddie this is Richie Tozier.”

Eddie watched as Richie’s eyes flashed with something he couldn’t place before he smiled, wide and almost charming, and held out a hand for Eddie to shake.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Clearing his throat, Eddie place his palm into Richie’s, his eyes widening at the electricity that flowed up his arm at the contact, and he smiled back. “Pleasure is all mine.” His words came out more like a squeak and he let go of their hands.

Richie’s jaw opened and closed as though he was preparing to say something. Before he could, a voice came from the till, loud and annoyed. “Um, excuse me, can someone take my order at some point today please?” Eddie winced as he knew exactly who this was. This was Greta Keene.

Stepping forward to the till, Eddie put on his best ‘fake smile’ and turned his attention to Greta, “Yes, sorry, what can I get for you.”

By the time he was done serving her, Stan had come back from his break and they were engaged in a conversation Eddie didn’t want to interrupt. He felt Mike slide up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You could shoot off if you wanted to? We’re pretty dead here now.”

Eddie glanced around the shop and he nodded, “Yeah, that would be great Mike, thank you.” Getting off now meant he still had plenty of time to pick up his placebos at the pharmacy. He untied his apron and hung it up, grabbing his jacket from the cloak room and making his way back out front. “I’m off,” he said to Stan, breaking off his conversation with Richie.

“Leaving?” Richie asked, his eyes almost reflecting disappointment, his lips turned up into a pout. “Why don’t you have a coffee with me?”

“I can’t,” Eddie swallowed, “I have to go to pick up my medication from the pharmacy before it closes. If I forget, my mother will have a fit.”

“Honestly Eddie, why do you still take those things?” Stan asked, staring at Eddie seriously. “And before you say anything, in a few weeks it won’t matter anyway because you’ll be out of there and going to New York, so why don’t you just...start now?”

“Because I’m already treading on eggshells, Stan. If I tell her that I know they’re fake now, then she might not _let_ ****me go to New York after graduation. You know what she’s like.” He sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Eddie didn’t hang around to hear what Stan was going to say to his words, instead he just walked to the door and out into the summer air. He was about forty steps away from the coffee shop when a voice called out to him, bringing his steps to a halt.

“Eddie!”

He turned around just as Richie came to a stop in front of him. He was breathing heavily, his fingers running through his hair. Eddie frowned, tilting his head to the side. “Did I forget something?”

“No, no. I just- I have to ask you something,” Richie breathed, swallowing and reaching a hand forward for Eddie’s own. Once again, at the contact, a bolt of electricity shot up his arm. “Do you feel that?”

Unable to help himself, Eddie nodded his head, glancing back up so their eyes could lock together. “Yeah, I feel that...but what does it mean?”

Richie took a step closer, his expression morphing into a warm smile, his eyes softening as he reached the hand not holding Eddie’s, up to cup his cheek. “I think you know what it means.”

Eddie let out a shaky breath, his body almost trembling under Richie’s gaze. Deep down, he knew the answer, but right then he needed some sort of proof or confirmation. With his free hand, he reached down to pull his marker from his pocket, uncapping it and scribbling a small heart on the hand that was still being held by Richie’s. As the ink settled in place, he turned his attention to Richie’s hand, watching in awe and shock as the same little heart appeared on his skin.

“Oh,” Eddie breathed, his heartbeat speeding up, battering against his ribcage and he looked up, meeting Richie’s eyes again. “Hi.”

“Hi, Eddie. It suits you,” Richie pressed their foreheads together, their eyes intimately locked. “Can I take you out, Eddie?”

“Like, on a date?” Eddie stupidly responded, as though there was another word to call it.

“Yes, yes on a date. I want to know everything about you.” Richie grinned, nodding his head.

“Yes, okay. Yes.” A smile was now permanently in place on Eddie’s lips. “How did you know it was me?”

“Other than the bolt of electricity when we shook hands?” Richie asked. “The medication, and the coffee shop. I put the puzzle pieces together quite quickly after that.”

“Stan mentioned you were going to Art School but, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.” A blush rose up on Eddie’s cheeks as Richie stepped back and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. They started walking down the street, heading towards the pharmacy.

“Let’s go get your shitty meds, Eds,” Richie winked at the nickname. “And I’ll take you out to dinner.”

“Don’t call me Eds,” Eddie quipped, settling into Richie’s side like a puzzle piece, like he was always meant to fit there. Which he was, because Richie was his _soulmate_. He’d finally met his soulmate.

“Ah, you’ll learn to love it.”

And he did.

  
  



End file.
